Julia Kebuladze
November 9, 2020
As we continue to live through what will inevitably be a memorable and historic time, it is necessary to reflect on the past couple months of quarantine. How has the response of the United States differed from other counties, and why is this? Why is it that as one of the worlds supposed greatest powers, we have close to three hundred thousand deaths with no sign of it stopping? The answer lies deeper than the systems in place in this country, it lies in the culture of the citizens who reside in it. That culture comes from American Individualism, and it is for the reader to decide whether in this case it was a helpful or harmful attribute.
The novel coronavirus has crept its way into every aspect of life in 2020. The pandemic continues to disrupt all aspects of life including businesses, education, travel, healthcare systems, and more. The pandemic became even more of a pressing issue for the United States as colleges began reopening, despite the number of cases continuing to rise. According to CNBC, universities all over the country have struggled to contain the climbing number of infections, even with their extensive re-opening plans.[1] The reopening of schools and mass travel has caused many citizens to look back on the past few months and ask the question, “Why has the curve not flattened when other first world nations have managed to have a divisive and fast response that controlled the virus?” The policies and attitude the United States holds when battling the coronavirus are rooted in a concept known as American Individualism, and it is the reason the response has proved unsuccessful.
There are many examples of nations that have done much better with the virus. For example, Taiwan has had only 24 reported deaths due to the coronavirus. Taiwan is known for its strong centralized government, and, like many other Asian countries, has an existing culture of mask wearing. In Asia, it is considered good hygiene to wear a mask in order to be respectful and considerate to others around you.[2] This mentality applies to Taiwan as well, and this culture of respect coupled with their quickly enacted policies lead to a better control of the virus. The nation also had a preexisting electronic health records system that allowed for the virus to be more easily controlled. The system, while not originally designed to respond to a pandemic, proved extremely useful in providing fast data into patients pre-existing conditions, rapid testing, and the system easily adapted to becoming a way to fight the virus. Firstly, the government merged the health card database with information from immigration and customs to send physicians alerts about high risk patients.[3] This existing database meant that they did not have to worry about creating an entirely new infrastructure to combat the virus, unlike many other countries. This meant more time for developing systems of care and isolation for those who did get the virus. While Taiwan, like every other country, had to deal with outbreaks and losses, their early and decisive actions were able to save thousands of lives that the United States evidently lost. So, why was the United States unable to mimic a similar successful response?
There are several reasons that the United States has not succeeded in controlling the virus as much as other nations, all coming together under one greater reason that we will get to later in this analysis. For starters, the way that Medicare and Medicaid work in the United States would not allow a similar electronic system without some independent third party monitoring the data. “While it is not required, health care providers may decide to offer patients a choice as to whether their health information may be exchanged electronically, either directly or through a Health Information Exchange Organization (HIE)”.[4] Because of the legal complexities of medical privacy laws, it would be difficult to utilize the federal government to allow for access to health records in a centralized manner like Taiwan, who does not have as clear-cut standards for their disclosure of healthcare information.[5] The debate over changes in the United States health care system has been a long-standing argument, and in these times, perhaps a massive overhaul is what would have been necessary to mitigate the virus. But again, this is not a question as to whether the United States has the means to enact this, but whether or not our current legislators and culture would allow such.
Another issue that contributed to the United States’ failure of a response to the pandemic was the delegation of authority to the states and governors. The United States’ being such a large nation divided into fifty states creates a complex balance between states’ rights and the federal government. The beginning of the pandemic caused each state to enact their own policies to fight the virus, rather than one overarching national plan. Since the United States does not having an evenly distributed population, it makes sense that there wouldn’t be an all-encompassing solution. However, the result proved that this was an inefficient method of combating the virus. This is seen in states that mandated masks everywhere, if that was federally mandated, perhaps more lives could have been saved. For example, “In June, Arizona closed bars, gyms, movie theaters, and waterparks after initially starting to open them in May.”[6] Arizona was also a state that did not mandate mask wearing until later. On the other hand, governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey only recently announced that indoor dining and gyms will be opening, and now the state has one of the lowest rates of transmission, much unlike Arizona. New jersey also mandated mask-wearing earlier on, which resulted in a later lower-rate of transmission .[7] The countries that acted like New Jersey, with mandatory mask mandates and immediate closings, at a national level, ended up in a much safer posture.
The question of states’ rights has always been one of the biggest debates in the United States, but now is really the time to reconsider the role of the federal government when it comes to crisis scenarios. History has taught us there are many benefits to having states’ rights. It is one of the most unique functions of our democracy, and in many ways, it can protect us from any structural problems from within the federal government. In this case, however, it lead to our downfall. The lack of uniformity in the policies regarding crossing state borders, travel, work, and reopening, prolonged the spread of the virus and lead to some states having much lower rates of transmission than others. But we cannot celebrate a victory in some states while others have higher rates of infections and death, and we cannot pretend that they do not exist and aren’t our concern. So, again one may ask, why is it that our governors were left with the decision making in the health of an entire nation? Was it the failings of an uninformed and power-hungry leader, or a deeper-rooted issue?
This pandemic exposed a myriad of issues that have dirtied the face of our nation for a very long time. The disparity of availability in the healthcare system, the negligence our leaders displayed, and our lack of unitedness all stem from one deep-rooted personality trait America cannot seem to let go of; a culture of selfishness. As previously discussed, many Asian countries have a culture of respect and selflessness. In Japan, Japanese manners place a great emphasis on “ikkai ichi dousa,” a phrase similar to “one thing at a time.”[8] So even something as simple of eating while walking down the street is frowned upon, as to respect others and maintain maximum public hygiene. So, when it came time to respect the health of others while wearing a mask and staying inside, this was no problem, since in those countries a sense of duty towards your nation also meant a sense of respect to all of its citizens. In the United States, we still have yet to all arrive to the conclusion that caring for each other’s health is just as important as caring for your own health. Why is that, you may ask? I offer a reason in American Individualism.
The term “American Individualism”, defined by former president Herbert Hoover as “Individualism has been the primary force of American civilization for three centuries. It is our sort of individualism that has supplied the motivation of America’s political, economic, and spiritual institutions in all these years. It has proved its ability to develop its institutions with the changing scene. Our very form of government is the product of the individualism of our people, the demand for an equal opportunity, for a fair chance.”[9] For a long time, this individualistic attitude was seen as a good thing, the pioneer spirit of America that makes us an exception. It has driven our country to great successes and has acted as the driving force in the spirit of innovation. Herbert Hoover’s time has passed, and his idealistic views of the world power America was, realistically doesn’t exist anymore. Hoover even went so far as to say that “Salvation will not come to us out of the wreckage of individualism. What we need today is steady devotion to a better, brighter, broader individualism—an individualism that carries increasing responsibility and service to our fellows”[10] I would argue that our nation took the idea of individualism too far and became our greatest weakness.
There are many examples of how a culture of pride in individualism turned into a culture of greed and selfishness. The entire concept of individualism is focused around the self, how you yourself are special enough to make a great contribution to your nation. Growing up in the American school system, you are taught that America is the freest and best nation in the world. You are taught that you are a special little snowflake with the potential to do whatever you want. You are taught that America goes around the world, freeing nations and helping the poor. From an early age, children are brainwashed to love a nation they know nothing about, and seldom will learn enough to appreciate any other nation. Less than thirty percent of American adults said that learned any foreign policy while in school, and within that thirty percent, they were still only able to answer fifty percent of the foreign policy questions asked of them correctly.[11]
This current system has shut us off to the possibility of us not being the best, and rather than using our skills to “Increase responsibility and service to our fellows”, as Hoover said, it gives us a sort of unparalleled hubris. The attitude of individualism became less of ‘How can I use my privilege and unique abilities to innovate’ to ‘The world revolves around me, how can I make it better for me’. This exists on a structural level, with the United States’ deathly grip over capitalism seeping into every aspect of life, but it also exists on a personal level. Many teenagers would say they are not concerned about the virus, and see no need to wear a mask, since it would by unlikely for them to die without preexisting conditions. For undergraduates, those who said they would be extremely likely to wear masks on campus dropped from fifty-two percent to twenty-six according to a recent UNC survey.[12] If the virus won’t kill them, why should they care? Right? It’s all about the self, never about the collective for many Americans. It is important to bring up, however, that this most certainly does not apply to everyone. Credit must be given to the thousands of college students religiously clinging to wearing masks in an effort to ensure they can have a semblance of a college experience at some point. Seventy-nine percent of college students even said they would not attend parties if they occurred this year.[13] Whether or not they will deliver on this promise is up to the students, and for some schools who had to send their students home after trying to open, they evidently did not. But these students represent the dynamic diversity of the United States as well. Many young people have been acting in a very caring and cautious manner, which gives much hope to those who really need every person to participate in the safety measures put in place.
This is not to say that American Individualism has not brought great things. There is no doubt that the contribution to the United States on a global stage is immense, and positive in many ways. The concept of believing in your own ability does promote innovation, and believing that your country can do great things gives you a sense of pride in your nation. Individualism is also not solely about the individual, but the strength of individualism celebrated by so many renowned historical figures, lies in the acceptance of responsibility for the self and community. Just as Hoover wrote, it is the spirit of this nation, and gives a sense of responsibility to the collective. It just seems that for many Americans, we have lost that responsibility to the community and just focused on the self. Not only do many individuals not understand the current weight of their actions to the people around them, but as a collective, oftentimes Americans will see a sense of duty to their nation rather than to the world as a human collective. Comedian Bill Maher, when asked about if this country would be better off if we just got over American exceptionalism and individualism, replied, “I think we have to get over the idea that we are the super-duper star spangled best country ever and that if we have any flaw it is that we feel other countries feel bad because our awesomeness is so overwhelming.”[14] This sense of pride is great, but not when there is much to improve.
Our nation is most certainly not perfect and ignoring our dark past and gloomy present would only be to lie to ourselves. Individualism in this case, broke us. It instilled a selfish and greedy attitude, one easily seen through looking at how others view our healthcare system; a privilege, not a right, due to the immense monetary conglomerate that is privatized health insurance. But, this does not mean there is no hope, or it is too late to change. What needs to happen is a cultural shift, a shift from our “culture of gain” into a “culture of care” for every citizen, not just those who can afford to get sick, physically and wealth-wise. It is our job as citizens to make sure that this is not our downfall, but where we pick ourselves up and use that pioneer spirit to learn awareness for others around us and a sense of perspective, a perspective that the United States is not the only country in the world, but an individual among many. If we were to change our policies, combined with a move toward a culture of care and respect for every human, then maybe this catastrophe could have been lessened.
[1] Noah Higgins-Dunn, “College students prepare to head back home a week into classes as coronavirus cases on campus climb”, August 8, 2020, Accessed October 25, 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/25/coronavirus-college-students-head-home-a-week-into-classes-as-campus-cases-rise.html
[2] Cynthia Kim Beglin, “Culture Shocked”, Published May 17, 2020, Accessed September 20, 2020. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culture-shocked/202005/why-was-mask-wearing-popular-in-asia-even-covid-19
[3] Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Cathy Zhang, Aaron Glickman, “Learning from Taiwan about responding to Covid-19”, Published June 30, 2020, Accessed September 20, 2020
[4] Healthit.gov, “Health Information Privacy Law and Policy”, Updated September 19, 2018, Accessed September 20, 2020. https://www.healthit.gov/topic/health-information-privacy-law-and-policy#:~:text=Most%20health%20care%20providers%20must,(%E2%80%9Chealth%20information%E2%80%9D).
[5] Han-His Liu, “Use and Disclosure of Health Information in Taiwan”, Published March 29, 2010, Accessed October 23, 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22458000/.
[6] Alison Fox, “A Guide to All 50 states’ Covid-19 Travel Restrictions,” Updated September 28, 2020, Accessed October 3, 2020. https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/what-to-know-about-each-state-during-the-coronavirus
[7] Fox, “A Guide to All 50 states’ Covid-19 Travel Restrictions,”
[8] Mayuka Ueno, “Things to Remember when Eating Outdoors in Japan”, Published July 4, 2016, Accessed October 3, 2020. https://wow-j.com/en/Allguides/other/tips_manners/00193_en/.
[9] Herbert Hoover, “American Individualism”, Published 1922, Accessed October 3, 2020. https://www.hoover.org/research/future-american-individualism.
[10] Hoover, “American Individualism.”
[11] Council on Foreign Relations Survey, “Americans Lack Knowledge on International Issues”, Published December 5, 2019, Accessed October 23, 2020. https://www.cfr.org/news-releases/americans-lack-knowledge-international-issues-yet-consider-them-important-finds-new.
[12] Susan Hudson, “Student Survey Examines Public Health Attitudes”, Published July 14, 2020, Accessed October 23, 2020
[13] Willem Roper, “College Students Willing to Stop Partying”, Published July 16, 2020, Accessed October 23, 2020. https://www.statista.com/chart/22289/college-student-party-survey-covid/.
[14] Bill Maher, “Real Time with Bill Maher”, Aired June 11, 2002, Accessed October 3, 2020. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/06/11/bill_maher_get_over_the_idea_of_american_exceptionalism.html.
Policy & Political Review 